this morning on "early today," sounding off. president obama goes face-to-face with americans frustrated with the economic slump. fe line fiasco, a woman in england faces the music for tossing a cat into the gash aen bin. and terror in the stands, horrifying moments as the bleacher packed with spectators horrifying moments as the bleacher packed with spectators collapses in brazil. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with on the defensive. in a town hall held by cnbc in the nation's capital, president

obama held his ground while frustrated citizens took turns taking shots at his economic strategy. the president repeatedly defended his policies while fielding questions. some of the americans who fear the worse from the economy. steve handlesman has more. >> quite frankly, i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted in defending you, defending your administration. >> reporter: people like zelm may hart -- >> i voted for a man who said he was going to change things in a meaningful way for the middle class. i'm one of those people and i'm waiting, sir. i don't feel it yet. >> reporter: the same from an out of work law school graduate. >> i really want to know. is the american dream dead forever me? >> absolutely not. we're moving in the right direction. >> reporter: there's more proof of that. economists calculated our recession ended in june 2009, recovery began 14 months ago. but not for millions, the

president acknowledged. >> the challenge is that the hole was so deep that a lot of people out there are still hurting. >> reporter: and when a wall street executive complained -- >> we certainly feel like we've been walked with a stick. >> reporter: the president staged a comeback. >> i think most folks on main street feel like they've been beat up on. >> reporter: and he will not okay tax cuts for anthony caramucci and his friends. >> 86% of that going to people making $1 million or more and lower the deficit at the same time. i don't have the math. >> reporter: but will he have the votes after november to keep steering the recovery? i'm steve handelsman. >> meanwhile, house members plan to unveil a ahead of the crucial midterm election that they're hoping will give them control of the chamber. the agenda is expected to focus

on jobs, spending, health care, national security and reform in congress. controversial topics like same sex marriage and abortion rights are reportedly still up in the air. officials say the agenda was crafted from a social networking project that let voters weigh in with their opinions on the agenda. meanwhile, sources report to nbc news that house members are considering adjourning at the end of this week so senators can focus on their campaigns. a stopgap spending bill would keep the government running until after the election. the house nuft must decide whether or not to extend bush era tax cuts. it would be the first time in 50 years that the house has adjourned before september 30th in an election year. overseas now where nato says

nine service members of the international fours in southern afghanistan were killed today when their helicopter crashed. it happened in the nation's volatile south. two other coalition troops, after afghan army soldier and u.s. civilian were hurt and transported to a military medical center for treatment. the cause of the crash is undertion investigation. >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in georgia, traffic came to a near stand still after a small plane made an emergency landing on an interstate during rush hour there. no one was hurt. the cause of the crash is not yet known. a smokey fire under a bridge in new york left some commuters stranded for several hours. an electrical transformer reportedly blew out, sparking the blaze. service was eventually restored after firefighters extinguished the flames and officials inspected the bridge.

in texas, a first-time mom at the dallas zoo is said to be doing a great job taking care of her 2-month-old zebra named webster. it is the zoo's fourth frebe, the fourlargest of all zebras. and in ohio, being crowned king of the gridiron isn't just for burly football players. in-state rivals rufus the bobcat and that's from ohio state university and brutus the buckeye from ohio state university throwing fists in the brawl when the bobcat pounced the bobcat twice. rufus came out on top. the student under the mask, though, has been banned from ohio athletics. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is bill karins with the

forecast. you know, bill, i grew up in ohio. we're loyal fans. you have to show who is boss and they're padded. >> i thought it was part of that little stick. >> no. it's the way we're raised. we're buckeye fans. >> all right. i'll still like you. let's chat about the weather this morning. we are watching summer coming to an end, but temperatures won't give up. it's going to be very hot the next couple of days. look at these temperatures this morning. we're in the 70s in some areas. the only cool spot is up here in new england and some of the plains. we're going to have a lot of wet weather from chicago to minneapolis through iowa, northern missouri will be some of the problem areas. high pressure off the east coast. we'll keep one day cool there, but then the return flow will be very warm tomorrow. as far as that radar goes, you can it filled up here. a lot of showers on this front. sioux falls into minneapolis at

this time. we're dry in wisconsin. forecast today, watch out for the wet weather. it's going to be pretty heavy here, especially up through iowa. east coast, fan taft sxik mild. now here is a look outside the weather outside your window. 97 in birmingham, alabama. we could see record highs today. 90 in miami. that's not too far from average. st. louis, 91. this is very late in the season to have this warm of temperatures, especially in the ohio valley. well, wednesday is going to be just as warm and some of that heat arrives on the east coast. we'll give you that forecast, coming up, lynn. >> thank you, bill. job cuts at one big bank and the must have choice this holiday season. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, who else was in on the joaquin phoenix hoax? the 9ers push the super bowl champs to the brink and a player takes out an unruly fan.

you're watching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. former president jimmy cart every is trying to clarify comments he made to nbc's brian williams that his post presidential work has been superior to that of his successor. after his comments aired last night, carter released a statement saying that he was areferring to opportunities from his organization, the carter center. a washington woman who splashed acid on her face and claims she was attacked is now facing charges. they relate to nearly $28,000 in donations that were collected to help pay for the woman's treatment after the incident. an english woman who sparked

international outrage after she was seen dumping a cat into a trash bin has now been charged with two counts of animal cruelty. and brazilian authorities say more than 100 people were hurt after a section of bleachers collapsed at a car race this week. look at that. police are still trying to determine the exact cause, but some officials think the bleachers had structural faults that caused them to give away. >> and now here's a look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,753 after adding 145 points yesterday. the s&p gained 17 points and the nasdaq added 40. overseas, the nikkei lost 23 points and in tokyo the hang seng was up 25. stocks extended their winning streak yesterday, but the big question today is how

will the fed's comments on the economy affected the word on the street? investors are hoping for a sign that the central bank might make more moves to keep rates low and restore confidence in the recovery. investors welcomed word yesterday that the longest recession since world war ii officially ended more than a year ago. the s&p traded through the high end of its recent range, adding to the day's upbeat move. lenar and discover financial services both traded higher thanks to better than expected earnings. ibm sparked more optimism with news of its $1.7 billion bid for natisa. a bitter battle between mark hurd and his former employer, hewlett packard, is over. the companies announced a settlement yesterday with hurd agreeing to keep hp's company secrets confidential.

walmart is planning to scale down the size of its super store to squeeze into urban market including new york and san francisco. london based online gambling company sporting bet has agreed to forfeit $43 million to avoid prosecution in the u.s. for illegally taking online betts from americans. finally, toys r us has released its annual list of hottest toys that will likely top holiday shopping lists this year following into the cute, collectible and cheap category, squeakies, mattel's pigs and pillow pets. well, a san francisco treat, the boss is honored and a grand time in anaheim. your early morning sports headlines are just ahead. and it looks like mother nature is going to ignore the

calendar. fall? no way. summer heat returns to much of the country. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, they retired jerry rice's jersey like night in san

francisco, and then things really heated up. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. it was tight and it came down to the wire, but in the end, the super bowl champs escaped san francisco with a victory. it was a seesaw battle. 49ers down 8, but they needed a two-point conversion to tie. smith, the vernon davis rules no good on the field. but after review, they overturned it. now we have over a minute to play. just enough time to march down the fields. the saints will take it, they won it, 25-22. in yanew york, the yshges honored george steinbrenner, very fitting for the larger than life owner who brought seven series title toes new york. steinbrenner would have been proud of granderson's performance. a two-run homer in the third and

then he did it again. the yanks beat the rays, 8-6. bases loaded for juan rivera who ripped a shot to center. the rangers julio grabbed the ball and pushed it back into the park. this time, it was a player who stunned everyone. seventh inning, a fan wearing a spandex suit aletter security guards, and that's when the braves tripped him up. biaz kept it all in stride. he said after the game that he saw a guard with a taser and thought the fan would rather be tripped than tasered. i think you're right. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. case closed for one of lindsay lohan's legal issues. much different for the other.

your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, man's best friend gets a new buddy. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. it's going to feel like summer through many areas today. that 90 degree heat is going to go from the south up here to the southern ohio valley and upper to mid 80s from chicago to

detroit and cleveland. i feel bad for the students that don't have air-conditioning. the east coast will be all right. cooler for one more day and some of that heat heads to the east coast on wednesday. new york city, d.c., mid to upper 80s. cooler with rain coming down through chicago. if you're watching us on kprc local 2, in houston, texas, experience old art at the dynasty and divinity, ife art in ancient nigeria at the museum of fine arts. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. at least one legal issue is resolved for lindsay lohan. the actress has reportedly settled her $100 million lawsuit against e-trade. lohan accused the firm of making fun of her in a super bowl commercial. meanwhile, a judge has issued an arrest warrant and set a friday hearing to determine if the actress violated probation

after failing a court-ordered drug test. lady gaga is going from pop to politics, again. the eccentric singer visited maine monday to urge lawmakers to repeal the don't ask don't tell policy ahead of today's senate vote. channeling his early golden gekko, michael douglas showed no difficult signs at the debut of "wall street" despite battled stage four cancer. a writer for the late show with david letterman says the host was in on the joke with wa keen phillips and the infamous exchange. i sort of feel like i can sleep better at night knowing this. >> i don't know. >> they replayed in this week -- or last week, was it. >> do you think letterman knew? >> he had that s&l of almost

starting to laugh. >> it was so uncomfortable, though, i don't think it could be manufactured. >> hey, i just report the news. and this comes from wat waterloo, iowa. phillip hendricks says he stumbled into this monkey business three years ago when he saw a pet monkey riding a dog holding on to the ears. now the lawyer turned ring master has a show on the road showcasing what he calls the banana better dee, the greatest job in the world. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] >> good tuesday morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thank you for joining us for 11 news today. >> to tone tony pann is joining us with the weather. >> it's in the 40's. that's pretty chilly for this time of year. we're not breaking any records. but it's going to warm up. it wil